This morning Shane Blodgett, Heydi Lopes and I did some birding along
the coast of Brooklyn. We started the morning at the Marine Park
Saltmarsh, followed by Spring Creek, Hendrix Creek, Fresh Creek, the
Canarsie Pier, Floyd Bennett Field, then finished off at Coney Island.
As you have probably already learned, the birding Gods saved the best
of the day for last.
Our day list began auspiciously enough with a RED-NECKED GREBE at
Marine Park. The bird has, apparently, been hanging around in the
water just east of the end of Gerritsen Avenue for the last week.
Spring Creek was nearly devoid of birds, but there was a nice mix of
waterfowl at the adjacent Hendrix Creek. When we began to walk back to
the car at Hendrix Creek, an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER flew across the
path in front of us. It came down to a small opening at the edge of
the ice in a small marshy area where it drank and bathed for a few
minutes. Heydi has some photos of it here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kiskadee20/OCWarblerHendrixCreek022010#
Fresh Creek, the Canarsie Pier and Floyd Bennett Field were all pretty
quiet so we spent little time at each spot before heading over to
Coney Island. From the boardwalk in front of the New York Aquarium we
scanned the water. It was close to 11am when I spotted a bird sleeping
on the water with its head tucked back. It appeared a little odd to me
because the bump of the head seemed to be directly over the center of
the body (as opposed to near the front of the body). At that distance,
because of the "centered" appearance, I had a difficult time
discerning the front of the bird from the back. We decided to stay on
the bird until it woke up. It eventually popped its head up, revealing
a long thin neck, large bill and name tag that read "Hello, my name is
WESTERN GREBE". The grebe was slowly paddling in a westerly direction,
eventually settling down in the water approximately 100-150 yards due
east of the end of the pier. It would dive whenever a police boat
would speed passed, but was still present when we left at around
12:45pm. Rob Bate, Bob O'Neill and one other birder (sorry, I forgot
your name) were watching the grebe when we left. I'll post a video and
pics on my blog later tonight.
If you go looking tomorrow, there is a parking lot on the west side of
Keyspan Park at the end of Cropsey Ave, right in front of the pier. By
subway, take the D, F, N or Q to Stillwell Avenue and walk a block to
the boardwalk. You'll see the pier to your right.
Good birding,
Rob
PS - Happy Birthday Heydi!
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